Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Repair time and other musings

Dropped the Monkey off at Rasmussen Bike Shop today to start the repair process. Straighten the hanger, put in a new derailer, replace 3 spokes, and get the chain back to the right length. A trip to Cindy's over lunch for a much needed massage along with a trip to my chiropractor before stopping at the shop completed most of the repairs that my body needed after this weekend's fun. Will take a few days for my body to recuperate from the fall, but I should be ready to go for my first road race of the year on Sunday, assuming my shoulder holds up.

I'm probably not going to post much about RAGBRAI, other than this short bit. I rode a lot, I had a good time, and I enjoyed myself. I love seeing the towns, I love seeing all of the people and the decorations. I really am not sure if I like dealing with the crowds of riders anymore though. I had just as much of not more fun on the ride out as I did on the ride. Maybe off route next year? Maybe take that "first gravel road to the right" and make it AGRAI instead? Go somewhere else on a smaller ride? Not sure.

The dates for Trans-Iowa v5 have been announced. Thinking that I'm going to make the transition from manning a checkpoint to riding through it. The location has been moved, but I'm sure that's not going to make it any easier, especially if any of the hills I saw around the area are an indication. There's a lot of bad stuff within 150 miles of Williamsburg, including Missouri and Illinois. ;)

Colesburg 40 is coming up again. I'm torn between riding that and giving the 12 hour at Seven Oaks a shot. Of course the smart thing to do would be to give my body the rest that it's earned by not breaking down on me so far this year. We'll see. Maybe I'll just ride up to Boone, hang out and then come back home. Cross season is coming up too. I might get lucky and have a cross bike to ride.

Been thinking ahead a bit to the fall and next year. Tom Anderson and I talked during last month's hundy a bit. I haven't really pigeon holed myself into being a "mountain biker" or a "road racer". I just like riding bikes, whether it's cruising around town or on the trail with some buds, or out ripping it up on the road with the fast guys. I'd like to try road racing next year just to say that I did it, and expose myself to another side of the sport (again after 20 or so years). No matter what I decide to do next year, I am pretty sure that I will have to change a good portion of my rides if I want to improve. I spent most of this year building up a good base, and building my slow twitch fibers. I am sure both my MTB racing and my road racing would improve if I could get in some shorter intense workouts next year to build power. I'll talk with some others and see what they have to say before making any final decisions.

2 comments:

Racing is fun, but it has this tendancy to make you want to race all the time. It would be more fun to convince your buddies to just get together and ride new trails more often, rather than focusing on "training" and riding the same ol loop.

It's all good though. No regrets in trying everything cycling has to offer.

Mistake duly noted, and corrected. In the end it's all about having fun, whether you're racing or not. If your hobby becomes more like work, and you're not getting paid for it, you're probably taking it too seriously.